Shortly after the coronavirus confined New York more than a year ago, Herman James took his scissors, took to the streets and created a new identity: the Central Park barber.
A year later, business is booming for this 33-year-old man, Manhattan’s only green lung hairdresser and a new attraction in the park known for its musicians, hip hop dancers and disco skaters.
“I love being a pioneer and having a monopoly,” James says between two cuts in his new business, a folding chair under a foliage-covered pergola near the John Lennon memorial in Strawberry Fields.
After a 45-minute drive from his home in Brooklyn, James opens his small wheeled suitcase, takes out scissors, a hair clipper, and a mirror, and hangs them on hooks from the wooden pergola overlooking a lake where New Yorkers they go for a boat ride.
Lay the hair products in a row on the floor, and lay a layer on the chair. There is no red-white-and-blue barber pole in America, but he unrolls a sign that reads, “Central Park Barber: Free Haircuts!”
James began offering free hair and beard cuts in the park in May 2020, when restrictions in the wake of the pandemic temporarily closed all non-essential businesses in New York, including the business where he worked.
He hoped the cuts would give New Yorkers a helping hand through tough times and was confident they would show their appreciation with donations.
Customers usually pay him what a cut costs at a Big Apple barbershop, between $ 20 and $ 30, although James has received tips ranging from two to $ 200.
“I decided to take the initiative,” James said, recalling their adventure.
“I grabbed my chair, my tools, and put them out in plain sight. I just stood there to see how people reacted. After 10 minutes a man came and sat down.”
“When people saw that he was cutting his hair, that attracted everyone. It had been 90 days of the pandemic and everyone needed it urgently!”
James’s idea initially caused some confusion with park authorities.
“This was the first time they saw something like this. There were no permits or applications. They didn’t know much what to do with me,” he recalled.
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The demand and the attention of the local press have made James a permanent attraction.
This hairdresser who started in the trade in 2010 made about 20 or 25 cuts a day at the beginning of the pandemic. Today they are between 10 and 15.
“It’s great. I would do this all the time if I had enough hair,” said Joel Linchitz, 72, after receiving a cut last Thursday.
Customers can book an appointment through the Schedulicity app, but a lot of people walk or run by and decide to cut their hair or beard on the fly. James also cuts women’s hair as long as they don’t want anything complicated “like layers,” he explains.
“Being outside, in nature, and seeing people passing by and taking photos is a new experience that people enjoy. It is also much safer. It is less risky than being inside, there is fresh air that can circulate,” he says.
Another advantage is not having high operating costs, for James “a real blessing”.
The downsides include the rain: he works seven days a week if the weather permits, but stays home if rain is forecast, and does not work in the winter.
His chair cannot be raised or lowered, so when he cuts children’s hair his back hurts.
He can’t plug in a hair dryer, but he ensures that the sun and the pleasant breeze from the park do “a good job.”
What do you do with the hair you cut? “One of my clients gave me a brush and a shovel. I sweep it up and throw it away,” he said.
The salons opened last summer, but James has no plans to settle in a traditional venue.
“The demand is still strong. And I am the first in history. I am not interested in going from this to working for someone else.”
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